Advertising sign



Feb, 2U, 1923. H 1,445,861..

. B. VON BULTZINGSLOWEN. ADVERTISING SIGN.

FILED MAY 1 1. 1922. 2 SHEETS SHEET 1..

Feb, 20, 1923.

L 6 5 4 4, 1 N rr. W O L S G W Z T L "U DD N O V B ADVERTISING SIGN.

2 SHEETS-S -FlLED MAY ll, 1922.

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Application filed May 11,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Advertising Signs, of which the following is aspecification.

' This invention relates to advertisingsigns as used for theatres or businesses, andfpar- .ticularly to the letters or other characters of such signs. The main object of this invention is to provide letters or characters which individually can be removably and adjustably supported iii a suitable frame so that a sign of any desired wording or display can be readily arranged. 7

Another object is to construct the letter or character so that it will be lasting and its cost of manufacture comparatively small. A third object is to eliminate the use of the more or less expensive colored bu-lbs hitherto required for changing the color effect of the character, but to so construct the latter, that its color effect both for daylight and night use can be varied by exchangeable thereof; Fig. 3 a vertical section on line 3-3' of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 a front view of one of the two sections of which said character is composed; Fig. 5 a vertical section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 a cross section on line 6-6 of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 a front view of the other section of said character; Fig. 8 a side view thereof; Fig. 9 a vertical section on line 9-9 of Fig. 7; Fig. 10 an enlarged cross section similar to that of Fig. 6; Fig. 11 an enlarged vertical section similar to that of Fig. 3, only a part of the character being shown; Fig. 12 a cross section on line 12-12 of Fig. 7; Fig. 13 a top plan View of two contiguous characters joined together; Fig.

19a. Serial no. scarce.

14; a cross sectionof a somewhat modified construction of the character; Fig. 15 a front View of a further modified character; Fig.

16 a side view thereof; Fig. 17 a vertical section on line 17-17 of Fig. 15; Fig. 18 a front view of'the front section of said modified character; Fig. 19 a vertical section on line 19-19 of Fig. 18; Fig. 20 a front View of the rear section thereof; Fig. 21 a side view thereof; Fig. 22 a vertical section on line 22-22 of Fig. 20; Fig. 23 a cross sec tion on line 23-23 of Fig. 15; Fig. 241 a top plan view of two contiguous characters, and Fig. 25 a" detail.

The principal feature of my invention is that each character is constructed in form of a hollow frame substantially rectangular in shape, in which the character is cut out or punched so as to have sharp contour lines and in which a plate of white or colored semi-transparent material can be inserted to produce the desired light efi'ect.

In the first embodiment shown in Figs. 1-12, the frame 10 constituting the'character is pressed of metal orother suitable material and is madeup of two sections 11,12, the frontsection 11' being in form.of aplate and the rear section 12 being box shaped and having the edges 13 of its side walls bent parallel to the body portion (Fig. 6). The front section 11 is riveted or otherwise fixed at 14 to said inner edges 13 of the side walls of the rear section 12, as best seen from Fig. 6. The character proper 15 is cut out or punched in both the front and rear sections so as that the contours thereof in the two sections coincide with one another and the edges 16 around the cut out parts are bev elled or bent inwardly preferably at an angle of about 45, so that the character 15 will be sharply outlined and marginal shadows will be avoided. The depth of the box shaped rear section 12 is such that the inwardly projecting bevelled edges 16 of the two sections will be separated .from one another by a comparatively narrow space 17, which will accommodate a glass plate 18. The rear section 12 has in one of its side walls a vertical slot 12 forming a mouth opposite edges 16 of the two sections and held against shaking during a stormy weather.

The rear section 12 is also provided with inwardly projecting transversal flaps 19 formed by punching and extending above and below the upper and lower edges of the contour of the character 15. These flaps have their edges at one end bent downwardly to form abutments 20 against which the plate 18 will bear when inserted into the space 17. Furthermore from one side wall' of the rear section 12 project outwardly tongues 21, one near the upper end and another near the lower end of the frame 10, which tongues 21 may also be formed by punching, and in the opposite side wall of said section slots 22 are formed in alinement with said tongues and capable of snugly engaging the tongues 21 of an adjacent character, when characters are placed contiguously to form a word, multiple number or the like.

To facilitate the proper positioning and joining of contiguous characters the front andrear sections 11, 12 may be joined together in a slightly displaced position, i. e., at one side the rear section'will project beyond the front section and at the opposite side the front section will project beyond the rear section. When two or more character frames 10 are assembled to form a word or the like, the rear section 12 of each will be overlapped by the front section 11 of the contiguous character frame, as shown in Fig. 13, the overlapping parts acting as guides and insuring proper alinement of the characters so that their tongues 21 will easily engage the corresponding slots 22.

The plates 18 may be made in various colors, so that by merely changing the plates the color or light effect of the characters can be varied. a

At the bottom edge of the character frame 10 the front and rear sections may be cut out to form a finger hole 10 so that the character frame can be easily grasped when it is desired to insert it into or remove itfrom the frame (not shown) holding the characters.

In the modification shown in Fig. 14 the construction is somewhat simplified. Here the character frame is also made of metal sections-23, 24 of similar construction to that of the first described modification, but instead of cutting or punching the contour of the character in the rear section 24, a square hole 25 is provided which in width and length is made at least equal of the largest width and length of the letter or character 15 cut out in the front section 23, measured along the inner edges of the contour. The edges 26 around said rectangular hole 25 are bent inwardly to form in conjunction with the inner edges 16 of the character 15 bearings for the glass plate 18,

' the space 27 between said edges 16 and 26 being admeasured to conform with the thickthe character frame is made of wood. To

facilitate the manufacture thereof the frame 29 is composed of two substantially rectangular boards 30, 31, the boards having cut out in them the contour of the character 32, substantially as in the first modification, excepting that in the example shown the edges of the contour of the character in the rear board 31 are not bevelled. The two boards are displaced relative to one another like sections 11, 12 in the first modification to form guides which will facilitate assembling of two or more characters in alinement with one another. In order to form a pocket for the glass plate 18 the boards 30, 31 are spaced apart by cross bars 33 fitted between the two boards'and glued or otherwise fixed thereto. The pocket is so dimensioned that the glass plate will snugly fit therein.

One side of the pocket 34 is closed by a strip 35 glued to the laterally projecting edge of the rear board 31, while the opposite side of the pocket is open to form a mouth 36 through which the plate 18 can be passed into and removed from the pocket. To secure the plate 18 in the pocket 34 I provide a finger 37 pivoted in a groove 38 of one of the boards at the open side of the pocket, which finger can be tilted so as to engage the exposed side of the plate 18.

In order to facilitate the cutting out of such letters as R the insular part thereof as 32' may be secured in position by narrow metal strips 39 the ends 39 of which are somewhat enlarged and adapted to fit in incisions 10 made in the edges of the frame 29 or contour of the character 32.

Of course this as well as other features of the construction shown and described may be variously modified without departing from the principle of my invention. 7

What I claim is 1. A character for an advertising sign.

consisting of a frame composed of two superposed sections forming a front wall and a rear Wall, said walls being cut out and bent inwardly to form the contour of the character and also front and rear abutments, the space between said front and rear abutments forming a pocket, and a plate of light modifying material snugly and removablv borne in said pocket.

2. A character for an advertising sign, consisting of a frame composed of two superposed sections joined together and in which the contour of the character is cut out, the edges of each contour being bent inwardly and the opposite edges of the two contours being spaced apart to form n raaaeei pocket, and a plate of semi-transparent material adapted to snugly and removably fit in said pocket.

3. A character for an advertising sign consisting of a frame composed of super: posed sections joined together, each having the contour of a character cut out in it and the edges of the latter bent inwardly at a slant, the contours of the two sections coinciding with one another, the inner edges of the opposite contours being spaced apart .to form a pocket, and a plate of semi-transparent material adapted to snugly and re consisting of a hollow frame having the contour of a character cut out in its front face and the edges of said. contour bent inwardly at a slant, one of the sides of said frame having a slot leading into the interior of said frame, and a plate serving as background for the character and adapted to pass through said slot and to snugly and re movably bear in said frame.

6. A character for an advertising sign consisting of a hollow frame having the contour of a character cut out in its front face and a slot in one of its sides, a colored plate fitting in said. frame and adapted to be passed through said slot, and means in the opposite sides of a character whereby contiguous characters can be joined and heldin alinement with one another.

7 A character for an advertising sign consisting of a hollow frame having the contour of a character cut out in its front face and a slot in one of its sides, a colored plate fitting in said frame and adapted to be passed through said slot, and means in the opposite sides of a character consisting of tongues and grooves whereby contiguous characters can. be joined and held in alinement with one another. 1

8. A character for an advertising sign consisting of a frame composed of two superposed sections each cut out to form an opening conforming with the contour of a character, said openings coinciding with one an-' other, but said sections being joined in displaced position to form guides, whereby con t-iguous frames will be held in alinement with one another, one of said sections hav- BRUNQ VON BllLllZllNGSLUl/VEN. Witnesses:

MAX D. ORDMANN, JosEPrr 'll. .MoMAHoN. 

